Method of television program suggestion and apparatus therefor

Abstract

The invention proposes a method and apparatus for providing a television viewer with relevant program suggestions while the viewer browses an electronic program guide (EPG) (38). The invention uses a viewer profile (44), which may be obtained in accordance with any well-known technique, in conjunction with the viewer's usage of the EPG (38) as a basis for program suggestions. In this way, relevant program suggestions may be provided, and typically displayed within a picture-in-picture window (430) on the screen (400) of a television display apparatus (300).

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a method of television program suggestion and an apparatus for carrying out the method, the method relating particularly to a method of television program suggestion based on a viewer's usage of an electronic program guide (EPG).

[0002] As the number of television channels available to viewers increases, it becomes increasingly difficult for a viewer to find programs of interest. EPGs can help to overcome this problem by displaying upcoming programs grouped according to particular genres, channels, time slots etc. A number of more sophisticated methods of television program suggestion are known and generally display suggestions to viewers through an EPG, with suggestions based on a viewer profile. The viewer profile contains information relating to a viewer's interests and may be generated according to interest information obtained either explicitly by a viewer entering preferences, or implicitly from aspects of viewer behavior.

[0003] The patent document WO 00/04708 discloses a method of television program suggestion using information relating to a program a viewer is currently watching to make the suggestions. This can be described as a context-sensitive suggestion method, the context for the suggestions being given by information relating to the currently watched program.

[0004] Methods of television program suggestion using information relating to the program a viewer is currently watching are necessarily limited to suggesting program in some way related to the currently watched program, i.e. the current context, but a viewer may require program suggestions if the currently watched program is not relevant to the viewer's interests. Limiting to suggestions based on the current program may provide a too narrow range of program suggestions.

[0005] It is an object of preferred embodiments of the present invention to provide a method of television program suggestion based on a viewer's usage of an EPG which provides context-sensitive suggestions of programs without the limitations described above.

[0006] According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of television program suggestion, which method is characterized in that the program suggestions provided are based on a profile of the viewer's interests and a viewer's current location in an EPG structure.

[0007] Supplying context-based suggestions rather than simply suggestions based on viewer profile alone ensures that a more focussed suggestion can be given, which is more likely to meet with the viewer's actual viewing preferences at that time.

[0008] Preferably, program choices which are directly accessible from the current location and closely correlate with viewer preferences from the profile are suggested to the viewer.

[0009] Suitably, a first suggestion provided to the viewer is a program choice from the current location having a closest correlation with the viewer preferences.

[0010] The viewer's current location in an EPG structure may comprise:

[0011] (i) an information location relating to a particular channel, in which case program suggestions are provided on a priority basis from this channel;

[0012] (ii) an information location relating to a particular time slot, in which case program suggestions are provided on a priority basis from this time slot;

[0013] (iii) an information location relating to a particular program genre, in which case program suggestions are provided on a priority basis from this program genre or a sub set of this program genre; or any other suitable information location.

[0014] Suitably, the program suggestions provided are updated whenever a viewer's location in an EPG structure changes.

[0015] Suitably, the program suggestions provided are displayed in a picture-in-picture window specifically for displaying program suggestions. However, the program suggestions may be displayed by highlighting relevant programs in an existing EPG window. If no relevant programs can be identified, no suggestions are displayed.

[0016] According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus for carrying out the method of the first aspect of the invention, said apparatus comprising an EPG; an interface to enable a viewer to change locations in the EPG; a stored profile of viewer preferences; a receiver to receive signals including television programs and information relating to television programs; and means for providing program suggestions based on the viewer's current location in the EPG and the preferences in the stored profile.

[0017] Preferably, the EPG stores the information relating to television programs and provides the information relating to television programs to the means for providing program suggestions.

[0018] According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a television display apparatus incorporating the apparatus of the second aspect and a display capable of displaying the received signals, information from the EPG and provided program suggestions.

[0019] For a better understanding of the invention, and to show how embodiments of the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:

[0020] FIG. 1 shows a flow chart illustrating a method according to the present invention;

[0021] FIG. 2 shows a television display apparatus incorporating apparatus for carrying out the method of the present invention;

[0022] FIGS. 3A-3E show examples of screen displays provided to a viewer using an EPG featuring a program suggestion function according to the present invention.

[0023] Illustrative steps involved in providing a method of television program suggestion according to the present invention are shown in FIG. 1. Upon entering an EPG structure and a context-based program suggestion function, the procedure of FIG. 1 is initiated, in step 10. At any point after this, the process may be terminated by a jump directly to step 24 by exiting the context-based program suggestion function. Step 12 involves the accessing of a viewer profile. The viewer profile may be stored locally to the equipment carrying out the method, or may be alternatively provided from a remote database. After the viewer profile has been accessed, knowledge regarding the content of upcoming programs is acquired in step 14. The metadata is broadcast along with the EPG signals. Next, the EPG context is determined in step 16. The EPG context comprises a location in an EPG structure that a viewer is currently browsing. For example, the viewer may browse through programs being shown at a particular time, programs being shown on a particular channel or by particular types of channels (for example, music channels, sports channels, movie channels, etc). In step 18, the viewer profile, EPG context and knowledge of forthcoming programs are used to provide relevant program suggestions to a viewer. In this step, the EPG context is correlated with viewer profile so as to present and display suggestions which are targeted toward a close correlation between the context and the profile. In step 19, it is determined if the context has changed. If the context has not changed, the method proceeds to step 20, otherwise the process returns to step 16. In step 20, if one of the suggested programs is selected, the method proceeds to step 22 where that selected program is displayed and then to step 24 where the process ends. In step 20, if no program is judged to have been selected, the process returns to step 18.

[0024] FIG. 2 shows an example of an embodiment for carrying out the present invention. The apparatus shown in FIG. 2 comprises a television display apparatus 300. A television broadcast signal is received by the television display apparatus 300 at aerial 30. The television broadcast signal may comprise a digital or analog signal, and may be broadcast by terrestrial, satellite, cable or other suitable techniques. The signal received at aerial 30 is fed to the demodulation/tuner block 32. The demodulation/tuner block 32 feeds a video signal to a video mixer 34. The video signal output by the demodulation/tuner block 32 comprises a particular television channel. The video mixer 34 is directly coupled to an optical output device 36, which may be, for example, a cathode ray tube or any other suitable apparatus.

[0025] The demodulation/tuner block 32 extracts EPG information included in the broadcast signal and feeds this information to EPG block 38. The EPG information fed to EPG block 38 comprises both information on forthcoming programs in a video format to be fed to video mixer 34 before display on optical output device 36 when a viewer is using an EPG function, but also metadata concerning forthcoming TV programs that can be fed to a suggestion engine 46 when the viewer requires context-based program suggestions. The metadata is stored in an EPG database 39 after its extraction from the television broadcast signal. In the television display apparatus 300 of FIG. 2, a user profile is stored in profile block 44, but the user profile may be alternatively stored remotely. The information contained in profile block 44 may be acquired through any suitable technique, such as explicit feedback from a viewer's response to a questionnaire, by a user selecting a lifestyle stereotype or by any form of implicit feedback from viewer activity statistics.

[0026] A viewer controls the operation of the television display apparatus 300 by using a remote control unit 40. The remote control unit produces infrared signals when operated by a viewer, although other control devices can be envisaged by persons skilled in the art. The infrared signals from the remote control unit 40 are received by an infrared receiver 42. The infrared receiver 42 passes control signals to the demodulation/tuner block 32 to control the TV channel fed to the display apparatus 36 through the mixer 34. In addition, the infrared receiver 42 feeds control signals to EPG block 38 to control the viewer's operation of the EPG. The EPG block 38 feeds a first signal to the video mixer 34 for incorporation in the video signal displayed at optical output device 36. The viewer may also initiate a change of channel whilst using the EPG, and therefore a second output of EPG block 38 is fed to the control input of the demodulation/tuner block 32.

[0027] If the viewer using the EPG initiates a context-based suggestion function according to the present invention, the EPG block 38 feeds this request to suggestion engine 46.

[0028] The suggestion engine 46 accesses profile block 44 to acquire the viewer profile and also accesses the EPG database 39 of EPG block 38 to acquire metadata regarding forthcoming programs. On receiving these pieces of information, the suggestion engine 46 outputs a video signal containing the context-based suggestions to the video mixer 34 for incorporation in the signal supplied by the video mixer 34 to the optical output device 36. The output of the suggestion engine may be mixed into a separate picture-in-picture window, or may be alternatively mixed into an existing EPG picture-in-picture window.

[0029] The viewer may accept one of the program suggestions and navigates through the EPG structure using the remote control unit 40 to signal this acceptance. In this case, the EPG block 38 feeds a signal from its second output to the control input of the demodulation/tuner block 32. The demodulation/tuner block 32 tunes to the desired television channel and sends the relevant video information to the video mixer 34 for display on optical output device 36.

[0030] Alternatively, the viewer may continue browsing through the EPG structure in an attempt to locate more relevant programs. In this case, as the viewer navigates through the EPG structure, the EPG context changes and the suggestion engine 46 provides new suggestions.

[0031] Alternatively, the viewer may at any point exit the context-based suggestion function without selecting a suggested program, and operate the television display apparatus 300 in different ways.

[0032] Examples of the type of screen displays presented to the viewer using the context-based suggestion function of the television display apparatus 300 are shown in FIGS. 3A-3E. The output of the optical output device 36 appears at screen 400. Screen 400 shows television program content 410, and, as shown in FIG. 3A, a picture-in-picture window 420 displaying EPG information. As can be seen in FIG. 3A, the EPG information displayed in picture-in-picture window 420 provides, within box 422, the viewer with an option of entering the context-based program suggestion function. If the viewer activates the context-based program suggestion function and chooses to browse the EPG for, e.g. movies, an example of the type of output at screen 400 which might be displayed is given in FIG. 3B. Together with the television program 410 and the EPG information window 420, a new picture-in-picture window 430 containing program suggestions is displayed. The user's current EPG context is “movies”, so the suggestions provided in window 430 are based on the viewer profile, and the fact that the viewer is currently looking for movies. The suggestions are therefore not restricted to movies of a particular genre, nor a particular channel etc. unless these limitations are included in the profile. If the viewer then chooses to browse for movies of a particular genre such as, e.g. action movies, an example of the type of screen displayed is given in FIG. 3C. Here, as the viewer's context relates to action movies, the programs suggested and displayed in window 430 are based on both the viewer profile and this new context.

[0033] Alternatively, the user may wish to browse for movies on a particularly favored channel. In this case, the type of output at screen 400 is shown in FIG. 3D where the suggestions provided in the window 430 relate to movies on the channel being browsed rather than any particular genre.

[0034] Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 3E, the viewer may wish to browse movies on a particular channel that also fall within a specific genre, and in this case the suggestions provided in window 430 relate both to the genre and channel of interest.

[0035] The suggestion engine essentially assesses the correlation between the metadata relating to programs falling within the currently browsed context of the EPG and the known viewer profile and presents suggestions based on the highest correlations. If, however, there is only a low correlation between such metadata of the currently browsed context and the known viewer profile, no suggestion is made. A threshold level of correlation may be preset within the apparatus such that, when suggestions which are context-based receive correlation levels below that threshold, no suggestions are presented.

[0036] To select a suggested program, the viewer activates the window 430 and once browsing within the window 430, selects a suggestion in the normal way.

[0037] Thus, it has been shown how embodiments of the present invention may provide a wide range of relevant program suggestions to a viewer. The present invention avoids suggesting programs only relevant to a viewer profile and thereby always repeating the same suggestions.

[0038] It will be appreciated by the person skilled in the art that numerous variations may be made which are still within the scope of the present invention, the scope of the present invention being limited only by the accompanying claims.

Claims

1. A method of television program suggestion, characterized in that the program suggestions provided are based on a profile (44) of the viewer's interests and a viewer's current location in an EPG structure (38).

2. The method of claim 1, wherein program choices which are directly accessible from the current location and closely correlate with viewer preferences from the profile (44) are suggested to the viewer.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein a first suggestion provided to the viewer is a program choice from the current location having a closest correlation with the viewer preferences.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein, if a correlation between program choices from the current location and viewer preferences is below a predetermined level, no suggestion is made.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the viewer's current location in an EPG structure comprises:

(i) an information location relating to a particular channel, in which case program suggestions are provided on a priority basis from this channel; or

(ii) an information location relating to a particular time slot, in which case program suggestions are provided on a priority basis from this time slot; or

(iii) an information location relating to a particular program genre, in which case program suggestions are provided on a priority basis from this program genre or a sub set of this program genre.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the program suggestions provided are updated whenever a viewer's location in an EPG structure changes.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the program suggestions provided are displayed in a picture-in-picture window (430) specifically for displaying program suggestions.

8. An apparatus for carrying out the method of claim 1, said apparatus comprising an EPG (38); an interface to enable a viewer to change locations in the EPG (40,42); a stored profile of viewer preferences (44); a receiver to receive signals including television programs and information relating to television programs (30, 32); and means for providing program suggestions (46) based on the viewer's current location in the EPG and the preferences in the stored profile.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the EPG (38) stores the information relating to television programs and provides the information relating to television programs to the means for providing program suggestions (46).

10. A television display apparatus (300) incorporating the apparatus of claim 8 and a display capable of displaying the television programs of the received signals, information from the EPG (38) and provided program suggestions.

11. A computer program product enabling a programmable device when executing said computer program product to function as an apparatus as defined in any one of claims 8 to 10.